Experts' views about defining services brands and the principles of services branding

There is a dearth of research into the nature of services brands and the principles of services branding, which ive address by interviewing 20 leading-edge brand consultants. Thr consensus view was that branding principles are common between products and services at thr conceptual level. In either sector, brands must be developed as the link mirroring the set of functional and motional values cl eared by the company and the way these are perceived by consumers. However, at the operation level, there may be differences in the emphasis given to thr manifestation of specific elements of services brands. Moreover the current inconsistency of delivery of services brands was raised as a critical challenge. Suggested ways of resolving this include a consumer-delighting culture that permeates every department, with greater emphasis oil internal communication and training. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.